The present invention relates to exercise methods and apparatus and more particularly, to exercise equipment which offers both upper body and lower body exercise.
Exercise equipment has been designed to facilitate a variety of lower body exercise motions. For example, treadmills allow a person to walk or run in place; stepper machines allow a person to climb in place; bicycle machines allow a person to pedal in place; other machines allow a person to skate and/or stride in place; and still other machines guide a person""s feet through elliptical paths of travel. Yet another exercise apparatus, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,290,211 to Stearns, is designed to facilitate several different exercise motions, including free form paths of foot movement and controlled paths of foot movement comparable to walking, running, stepping, cycling, striding, skiing, and/or elliptical motion.
Exercise equipment has also been designed to facilitate upper body exercise together with lower body exercise. For example, many of the foregoing types of exercise equipment have been provided with reciprocating cables or pivoting arm poles to facilitate contemporaneous upper body and lower body exercise. However, room for improvement remains.
Among other things, the present invention may be seen to provide an exercise assembly having a first type of exercise member and a second type of exercise member movably mounted on a frame. In a first mode of operation, each type of exercise member is independently movable relative to the frame. In a second mode of operation, the two types of exercise members are linked to move together relative to the frame. In a third mode of operation, one type of exercise member is locked to the frame to provide a rigid support during movement of the other type of exercise member.
In a preferred embodiment, the first type of exercise member is a handle, and the second type of exercise member is a foot support. The two exercise members are linked, either directly or indirectly, to discrete members which rotate about a common axis relative to the frame. In the absence of any supplemental interconnection, the hand driven member and the foot driven member move independently relative to the frame. The interconnection of a pin between the hand driven member and the foot driven member constrains the two members to rotate together relative to the frame. The interconnection of the pin between the hand driven member and the frame locks the hand driven member against rotation relative to the frame.
In another respect, the present invention may be seen to provide exercise methods and apparatus involving foot movement through a free form path of motion. In general, a foot supporting member is movably mounted on an intermediate member which, in turn, is movably mounted on a frame. As a result, the foot supporting member is free to move in two generally orthogonal directions relative to the frame. The freedom of foot movement notwithstanding, such apparatus may be fitted with tri-modal arm exercise assemblies like those discussed above. Moreover, the foot supporting members may be connected or selectively connected to move in reciprocating fashion relative to one another in either and/or both directions. The foot supporting members may also be supported in such a manner that resistance to downward travel becomes progressively greater as a function of downward movement. Many advantages and improvements of the present invention may become apparent from the more detailed description that follows.